The Second Curse
by AvalonCelticQueen
Summary: 'Both times she had touched her, she had cursed her. The first time was as a mere baby, blinded by revenge and self-gain. The second was on her sixteenth birthday, when the fairy had placed her lips against the Princess' forehead.' In the year or so following Aurora's sixteenth birthday, Maleficent is forced to re-evaluate her feelings for the Princess. One-shot. Maleficent/Aurora.


**The Second**** Curse**

Both times she had touched her, she had cursed her. Maleficent could see it now, watching Aurora stood with the young Prince by the riverside. The first time was as a mere baby, when she hadn't known better, blinded by revenge and self-gain. The second was on her sixteenth birthday, when the fairy had placed her lips against the Princess' forehead and seemingly condemned them both. Although, as the young Prince spoke, his exact words inaudible, and Aurora let out a giggle, a light musical sound that seemed to carry far further than such a girlish sound should, Maleficent felt a stabbing that caused her to feel only she was the recipient of the second curse placed between them.

'I just don't understand why you continue to allow him around Aurora.' Diaval shrugged as he stood beside his mistress, who remained engrossed by the Princess and her new male admirer, her eyes never losing their focus. 'You saw him fail to awaken her. He isn't her true love.'

'That's because true love doesn't exist, rather than through any fault of his,' she replied, though without turning her head, her voice far-away.

'You only need to look at him to imagine his faults.' Diaval scoffed, causing Maleficent to turn her head in amusement, scarlet lips turning upwards into a slight smile. 'And true love does exist.'

'Maybe for crows. Maybe they're more romantic a species than they get credit for.'

'Don't patronise me. I'm not romanticising anything here, or even exaggerating slightly, as I'm sure us crows are known for.' He was mocking, voice laced with a sarcasm that impressed even Maleficent. 'Aurora's awake now and it's no thanks to that boy down there with her, ready to whisk her away to some kingdom and force her into a wedding dress.' At that, he watched his mistress grimace slightly and turn back to watching the riverside couple. He shrugged. 'Aurora being awake now is thanks to true love's kiss, and that was yours, not his.'

'Whatever you're saying, stop.' With a wave of the hand, he was a crow once more. He tilted his head at her in a way she presumed to be either anger, or possibly pity, before flying off. Maleficent returned her attention to Aurora and Philip, who seemed to have got closer in the few seconds of her distraction, and she felt herself pull her wings tighter around her, as if their comfort could help soothe the pain that seemed to be gripping her heart.

* * *

The months that followed the chaos of Aurora's sixteenth birthday were easier than could have been hoped for; by humans, by fairies, but especially by Maleficent. The kingdom merger was proving successful. Maleficent had thought it would be hard to convince the humans to embrace the Moors given their nature in the past, especially in the past sixteen years, but it seemed they were just grateful to be rid of King Stefan, and were more than willing to accept Aurora in his place.

'You realise you're only granting Aurora the kingdoms as it means Philip won't be able to take her away, don't you? She's had no royal training; she can't run two kingdoms, especially not two that have always been enemies.' Diaval was becoming increasingly blunt when dealing with his mistress, never enough to quite rile her, but enough to distract her from whatever she would be doing, this time sat with parchment and quill, composing some political agreement for the merger. She seemed to be handling the situation alone, though whether through her own choosing, or the unwillingness of others, Diaval couldn't tell.

'She's the daughter of the human King, and is beloved by all; she possesses all that is needed to hold together the two kingdoms.'

'With counsel, of course?'

She arched an eyebrow, glancing up at him, stood beside her. 'With counsel, yes.'

'The counsel of the only person to ever wear a crown in the Moors, I presume?'

'I would never give her the two kingdoms and then leave her. Of course I would be there to support her.'

'So, essentially…simply put…you'd be ruling together?' He shrugged, a look of questioning innocence on his face. 'Just like a Queen and King, perhaps?'

'I would be her Protector, as I have protected the Moors before.'

'So a Lady and her champion then?

'I've warned you before, Diaval.'

He rolled his eyes as she raised a hand, her focus back on the parchment. 'Fine. Turn me back into a crow. Whatever you want. Anything you think will keep me quiet.'

Maleficent waited until he had gone, just a black speck in the open sky, and she was alone once more, before she put the parchment on the floor and leant back in contemplation. _She just wanted what was best for both kingdoms_. For the humans, their Princess, their beautiful lost Princess, the girl whom so many lost their lives to protect but loved more so because of it. For the Moors, one who would return it to the place Maleficent knew as a child, before she darkened and destroyed it with her vengeful thirst. One who could brush over the cracks and fractures of the past, perhaps never mending them, but covering them. The merger needed Aurora to wear the crown. Without her, the humans would fall back to greed, and the Moors to despair. Even now, glancing around, she could see a change in the place. It was prettier, lighter, just for the Princess being in it. And so, it made no sense why Maleficent felt heavier, the solitude she'd always enjoyed feeling more like isolation by just knowing Aurora was so near, yet not with her.

* * *

It took a year, or very nearly a year, for Aurora to finally find the time and courage to approach the fairy. It also took an event she never quite foresaw, though questioned afterwards why she should have been so blind. Though perhaps that was why she was running, shouting, to catch up with her Godmother on the night of her seventeenth birthday, holding her crown onto her head to stop the heavy metal falling onto the grass, already damp with dew, when down in the heart of the Moors her birthday celebrations were continuing into the dark without their guest of honour.

At the sound of her voice, Maleficent turned to meet the gaze of the newly coroneted Queen, and she managed to pass a smile she didn't quite feel, if only just to see Aurora return it broadly. 'I trust you've enjoyed your seventeenth birthday more than your sixteenth?'

'Oh no. Nothing could be better than my sixteenth birthday. That was when you saved me, and I moved here. That was the best day of my life. But yes, I've enjoyed today.'

At that, Maleficent gave a real smile, if only slight. 'I'm glad.'

Aurora's smile faltered, a frown crossing her face. 'But you're leaving. You're supposed to be at the celebrations with me. You're the only reason there is a celebration today.'

'I'm also the only reason there was nearly not a celebration today.'

'No-one thinks that.' Aurora sat down, staring up at the fairy with such an earnest gaze that she sat down also, the moonlight hitting her pale skin so fiercely she was almost white, illuminating just the red of her lips and the glow of her eyes almost perfectly. _Aurora wasn't sure she'd ever seen anything so beautiful_. 'I want you there. I feel I haven't seen you in so long. Not as we used to see each other.' She watched Maleficent give a little nod, and then she felt an understanding come over her suddenly. 'You're sad.'

'Don't worry over me today of all days. I've ruined one too many of your celebrations already.'

'I don't feel sad. I never feel sad. But I do know what it is. And I can see it in you.'

'I just feel more regret today than most days.' It was a satisfactory answer. Only a half-truth, maybe, but enough to keep Aurora at bay. 'But you are happy?'

The young Queen hesitated slightly before answering. 'Yes, I'm happy.' She watched as Maleficent raised an eyebrow questioningly, and she bit her lip and glanced at the grass beneath her feet. 'I'm not sad. But I'm confused. And I think I'm angry. I can be that, can't I?'

'You can be what you want.'

'I don't want to see Philip anymore.' She looked away as she spoke, as if upset, though her tone remained fairly calm. 'He doesn't want what I do. He doesn't understand me, and I don't think I understand him.'

'You're very serious, Beastie.' She meant it as a joke, something to try lighten Aurora's face, but it seemed to fall short, the young girl remaining unmoved.

'Philip asked me to marry him.' Maleficent felt the words like arrows to her chest. 'He wanted to ask me on my seventeenth birthday especially. He wants me to leave this merger, leave the kingdoms. He doesn't understand the Moors. He wants me to go with him back to his home, rule with him there, like my father promised his father. He mentioned about betrothal.' She looked up from the floor finally. 'I don't want that. I want to live here. I want to stay with you, like we agreed. I didn't even know my father. How could he have betrothed me when I didn't even know him?'

'Any betrothal your father made ended when he died. You don't have to do anything you don't want.' She was speaking fast, the blood pounding in her ears. Stefan, ruining both of their lives from beyond the grave. _Almost to be expected_.

'He said if I was so unwilling to leave, we could unite his kingdom and this one. He said it would be good for all.'

Maleficent gave a sharp laugh at that, something that took Aurora by surprise, distracting her momentarily. 'Humans don't change, no matter what kingdom they come from. They're all greedy. All with designs on anything that isn't theirs.'

'You don't really think that?'

She paused, and softened a little. 'No. I don't. I used to, but you changed that belief in me. I do believe it is a weakness that many suffer from. Especially men. Men are the weakest of the humans.'

'I don't have to marry Philip? I can turn him down? It won't harm the kingdoms?'

'You can do what you want, Aurora. Whatever that is, if it makes you happy. That's all I want from you, your happiness.'

'Then I'll always be here with you, because that's what makes me the most happy.' The Queen smiled once more, blonde hair glistening almost silver in the moonlight. 'We haven't sat together alone in so long, Godmother. Perhaps we could do that now, rather than return to the celebrations?'

Maleficent stood and smiled, holding out her arm for Aurora to link with hers. The young girl seemed to be radiating happiness once more, any concerns having been lifted from her heart, and with them, some of Maleficent's also. She'd be grateful to see the Prince gone. More grateful, perhaps, than she could see reason for. _Aurora's fingers felt electric when they brushed her own_.

* * *

'I think I am cursed.'

The words came from nowhere. Diaval and his mistress had only just landed from flight, in a wooded area away from the heart of the Moors. Despite Maleficent's wings having been returned to her over a year ago, the muscles were still weak, and their flights were often shorter than both would prefer. He had assumed this was why she had been calmer in flight than usual, frustration at her own lack of ability preventing her from joining him in graceful swoops, preferring to glide silently through the air, her eyes distracted. But as they walked, the words seemed to finally force themselves from her mouth, having previously been preying on her mind.

'I don't understand…'

'You can't play that with me, Diaval. You understand. You understand better than anyone, I feel. You know to what I refer.'

At that, he softened, his tone more gentle. 'It's not a curse.'

'It is a curse. It is more a curse than I thought possible.' She seemed angry, harsh, but he could see through it. She was scared. _Vulnerable_. 'I haven't felt this, anything like this, since I was sixteen years old, when I was lied to and betrayed. I'm not supposed to be feeling this now, especially not for her. She hasn't yet had her eighteenth birthday. She's Stefan's daughter.'

'You saved her.'

'I cursed her.' Maleficent stopped suddenly, her voice suddenly soft and words slow. 'For sixteen years, she lived under my curse. I separated her from her home. I broke her trust. I hurt her. I condemned her to a deathless slumber. I don't deserve to be forgiven because I _saved_ her. And I don't deserve her, in any way.'

With that, she turned and began to walk once more in silence. Diaval, however, remained stood behind, the only sounds around him the rustling of the trees above their heads. He watched her horned silhouette in the dark through the forest, yet did not follow, and she did not stop for him. The man waited until she was a distance away before yelling through the low hung branches.

'You can think what you want. But she's forgiven you. She thinks you saved her.'

Maleficent couldn't help smiling when she heard.

* * *

The young Queen found herself grinning broadly when the horned shadow appeared on the grass beside her, followed shortly by its owner, who stood behind her on the hill, overlooking the lake below. She had clearly been previously watching the many different fairies and creatures outside, yet Aurora's attention had been seized once more by only one.

'Godmother.' She beamed, her full focus now on Maleficent, who took a seat on a large, flat stone beside her. 'I've been watching the Moors while I waited for you. Aren't they just beautiful? Everything here is beautiful.'

'It's why this kingdom has always needed protecting. Many don't see the beauty that you do. Instead, they see a threat, and they fear it.'

'Then they must be blind, because to choose to live without such beauty would be a sad life.' She spoke broadly, yet her gaze remained focused on Maleficent, her voice soft. Even she wasn't entirely sure what beauty she meant as she spoke. After the few moments of silence that followed, she asked, brightly, 'You used to protect the realm because you were the strongest fairy, weren't you? Because you aren't like the other fairies?'

'Yes.' She was looking down as she spoke, watching the other winged creatures fly across the lake, no bigger than the dragonflies of the human realm. 'There are other fairies like me, but they often live alone, deeper in the Moors. Isolated. Protected.'

'And they would have wings like yours? And horns?'

Maleficent smiled nostalgically at that. 'My horns used to fascinate you as a child. I don't quite think you ever believed they were real.' She paused. 'I forget I've watched you grow up, Aurora. I don't seem to have changed. I forget you have.'

'You were always there, Godmother. I always felt you.' She returned the smile, yet stopped, as if trying to build the courage to speak further. 'But I have grown now. You've watched me. And now I am grown. I can make my own decisions.'

'Of course.'

'On my eighteenth birthday, I will have full control of the kingdoms. Without counsel.' She glanced over to gage Maleficent's reaction. At the lack of emotion registering on her Godmother's face, she continued. 'But I don't want that. I want your counsel. I need it. I need you. I want you to rule with me. On my eighteenth birthday, I want to name you as royal consort.'

Maleficent had been preparing herself to begin defence of her counsel, yet now stopped, her mind grasping at words to respond with. 'Aurora…'

'You don't like it? You don't want it?' The girl looked confused. Worried. 'I thought you would. You used to protect the Moors. You could have that position again.' She was rambling now, the worry gone as she spoke her train of thought aloud. 'Or you could sit by me on a throne. You could have a crown, though you might struggle to get it over your horns…'

'Neither the humans or the Moors will accept me on the throne again, Aurora.' She interrupted, her blunt words silencing Aurora swiftly. 'I stole the crown of this kingdom, one that had never had a crowned Queen, and I ruled with fear and vengeance. I know you think I've changed that now, I've repented, but I don't expect the forgiveness and trust of those I cast into despair.' She raised a pale hand, and ran her fingers softly down her companion's cheek, who smiled at the touch. 'Not all are like you. They don't forgive so willingly.'

'But they can. You have to give them a chance. They can see the person I see if you let them.' She leant her head gently against Maleficent's shoulder, and took her hand in her own. 'You think they judge you more harshly than is true. Many remember you as the Protector of the Moors. All I speak to in the Moors talk about you so happily. And you saved me. They all know that.'

'They all know that? They all know how?'

'True love's kiss, of course.'

It seemed a weight lifted to hear the words so plainly from Aurora's mouth, and yet for her head to remain rested against Maleficent's body, their fingers still entwined. _Perhaps…_

* * *

'They think I should be married. Should I be married?'

It was midnight, the sky dark, with just the hint of moonlight behind the swirling clouds. Across the lake, the night creatures seemed to dance, creating patterns of light as they glowed pinks and blues, circling each other. But Aurora was not watching them. As she aged, she seemed less susceptible to the distraction the Moors could provide, and more focused on her inner self. The fairies' gifts at her birth meant she could not suffer sadness as others could, instead the feelings manifested often as confusion and contemplation. Now, she was sat by the lakeside, her full focus on her own reflection staring back at her, as if it would provide her with the answers she sought. She'd been there, silently staring, for little over an hour, and spoke only when she heard the rustling of long robes on the grass behind her, and recognised the provision of comfort she sought.

'You visited the human kingdom?' Maleficent asked softly, placing the staff she still walked with sometimes, so used to its presence it was more a habit than a necessity, on the ground as she knelt beside Aurora so their reflections were level.

'I hadn't in so long. I felt I ought to. I was careful.' She frowned. 'Philip is married. It has been barely half a year since he asked me, and already he has found somebody else.'

'And you didn't receive an invitation?' Maleficent tutted, but lightly, raising a smile from her companion, though one that did not last long. When she spoke again, her words were slower, as if she was unwilling to ask in fear of the answer. 'Do you regret turning down his proposal?'

'No. Of course not. I never wanted to marry him. I couldn't,' she exclaimed, turning quickly to meet the solemn eyes of the fairy, missing in her excitement the glimmer of relief at Aurora's denials. 'But the people were cruel. They think I ought to be married also. They say the only reason I'm not married is because you refuse it, to prevent a King taking your place. They say other things too…'

She waited a few moments, hoping for Aurora to elaborate rather than having to question her. 'They say?'

'That you are a witch, and thrive in wickedness. That you plot to take control, killing me as you did my father, and rule with Diaval.' She shook her head, blond curls shimmering in the partial light of the moon, reflected in the still lake. 'I know they are lies.' She looked up suddenly, courage mustered. 'What is Diaval to you? I love him, I have since I was a child; he was a sign to me always that you were near. But I never understood why he would be with you. He's a crow; surely he wanted to be with others like him?'

'I saved his life once. And he was my wings and my friend, when I had neither.'

She watched the relief spread over Aurora's face, the frown lifting to a smile, lighting up her face once more. 'I knew it to be lies. I can't understand why I believed it ever so slightly.'

Still, she fell to silence. _There was more_. 'Is that all they said, Aurora?'

'They said more. Much more.' She was the one to hesitate this time, quite unsure how to broach what she had heard that day. _Or unsure how to say quite what she wanted. _'They say also that you will not allow me to marry. That you don't want me to leave…you. That you don't wish me to leave you.' Maleficent must have shown some emotion on her face, so usually reserved in her emotion, because Aurora's eyes widened. 'But that's true, is it not? You don't want me to leave you? I don't wish to leave you.'

She'd thought she'd been so careful. So controlled. She'd thought no-one would realise. 'I don't think you understand…'

'I do understand. And I don't wish to leave.'

'That isn't quite what they mean, Aurora.'

'I know what they mean. I know. They mean the reason you could save me when I was cursed. Why you could succeed when Philip failed. True love's kiss.' Her blue eyes had caught the moonlight when she met Maleficent's, glittering, the light dancing within their gaze. 'I heard everything while I slept. At first, it was like a dream, with sounds that were just out of understanding. But they've been in my mind more and more recently. You told me you would protect me. You told me I had stolen your heart.'

'I never thought you would hear that. I never thought you would waken.' She was whispering, barely breathing, her blood pounding in her ears. 'I thought I had lost you.'

'I always thought my heart belonged to the Moors. But more recently I've realised it belongs to you, also.'

'Aurora…'

'So, yes, I do understand what they mean. They mean this, don't they?' Aurora raised a trembling hand to run it slowly down Maleficent's cheek, as she had done so often to her before. It was different this time. She let her fingers brush the fairy's lips softly, blood red in the dim light, reassured when she didn't move, or attempt to avoid the touch. She needed to surrender full control. _For Aurora to want this just as she did._ She must have done, because now the young Queen was leaning in, and meeting her lips with her own. Softly, ever so softly. But then harder, more determined, deeper. All time seemed to have been lost and forgotten.

And that night they were not parted.


End file.
